. the mandala as metropolis 731
Korea, further testifies to the ubiquity of this architectural element
over a wide geographical range (figure 8).
In addition to the flaming triangle at the top center, two other foci
in the mandala draw the eye down to the bottom corners of Kokūzō’s
Assembly Hall. The left side of the hall is presided over by the thou-
sand-armed Kannon (Senjusengen Kanjizai ), the
bodhisattva of compassion whose multiple heads and thousand all-
seeing hands branch up and out in readiness to offer compassion and
omniscience. On the other side of the hall to the right presides the
one hundred and eight-armed Diamond Storehouse King (Ippyaku-
hachi Kongōzōō ), the bodhisattva who embodies the
strength and adamantine wisdom of Vajrasattva (ten Grotenhuis 1999,
65; Yamasaki 1988, 131).
In the polychrome copies of the mandala (the oldest of which dates
to ca. 859), Kanjizai on the left is primarily painted white and red,
while Kongōzōō on the right is a deep, dark green. Could these two
figures, with their heads and hands branching up and out like trees,
be Buddhist equivalents to the ubiquitous plum and pine trees that are
so emblematic of East Asian palace and temple compounds? Could
notions of landscape architecture—already implied by the vibrant red
lotus pond dominating the mandala composition as a whole—also be
included in this architectural template for religious teaching? Could the
designer of the mandala have outfitted this palace with a soft, yielding
perennial and a strong, fixed evergreen, substituting their familiar yin/
yang associations for Buddhist compassion and adamantine wisdom
instead? From a purely formalistic standpoint, the striking visual and
conceptual analogies seem to suggest so.
Thus the Womb World’s concentric halls around a central court-
yard, its alternate gong-style organization, and even some of its orna-
mental and botanical elements can be seen as suggestive of Chinese
architectural principles. Let us now turn to the Diamond World Man-
dala to discern what other possible Chinese standards for ideal urban
spaces may have helped shape its distinctive layout.
- The Diamond World and Chinese Imperial City Planning
The Diamond World Mandala is oriented to the west and is char-
acterized by eight assembly halls surrounding the central perfected
body assembly (figure 9). In this central hall, Dainichi holds court
as an imperially clad world sovereign, for mikkyō texts such as the